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This is global. The US, Japan, and the UK are no better off. Only difference is their bailouts come in money printing - for now. Keep in mind: Deutsche Bank got about $12 Billion from the AIG bailout by the US Gov't. And this is also a Deutsche Bank bailout. It's all subprime...

You're comparing the world's oldest form of currency and store of value to beanie babies? How many beanie babies do central banks keep as reserves? We are experiencing a global sovereign bond crisis. Don't believe me? Then why did the Fed need to monetize 300 billion of Treasuries and also...

And you conveniently ignore: - The trillion plus dollar Fed purchases of crappy loans - The FDIC backing of these large banks that speculate - The AIG bailout pass-thru of billions - Special tax breaks - An engineered stock market rally that allowed these big banks to issue new...

The way his companies are set up, and the amount he borrows from banks, gives him a rather comfortable position to go through bankruptcy every decade or so, and thus, socialize his accumulated losses while retaining much of his wealth - to be grown during the next cycle up. 99.999% of the...

Here's my take. The money you have in your wallet is merely a tangible manifestation of debt. As to coins, it could be argued that being made of metal, they have an intrinsic value. An extreme example is the gold eagle, which can have a denomination of $50, but it is worth gold spot + a...

Some money is more abundant and easily created than other money, no? And when you pay the IRS, do you have a choice in paying them in gold, time or oil?

Obviously, the Fed isn't the only player. So whatever the Repubs or Dems or any other deficit hawks say, we are not self imposing a hari-kari austerity program. Period. Fiscally, we will spend a trillion plus deficits for a decade. So what will the Fed do while Congress/White House does...

Thanks.

I don't know. Zimbabwe went pretty damn close. I own a few 100 billion dollar Zimbabwe notes. I read they got as far as a 100 trillion dollar note, rendering the 100B quite worthless in no time. By the way, my 100 billion dollar Z notes cost me $3.79 each - I wonder if I could break them...

Interesting point about the US dollar's value and role in Argentina. I read about the same thing happening in Zimbabwe, that US Dollars functioned as a gold standard of sorts. Obviously, the real thing - gold, was mined and pannned by many people in order to buy bread as well. But here's my...

I'll add some of my own anecdotal observations. During the tech boom, just about everyone I knew owned tech stocks. It was a frequent topic of discussion. During the housing boom, many of my friends and relatives bought homes and we frequently discussed the rising home values. We were...

Always think of the bright side of life

This guy experienced the Argentine debt crisis first hand and wrote this book. Very interesting stuff on how life moves on, how the wealthy get the hell out of dodge first, how it's not too smart to live in a cabin without a strong support group... etc.. website w/ book advertised...

You're being sarcastic, right? This is quite un-MartinG of you.

All I know is that the state pension fund managers have gotten crushed these past two years. Many of them bought in big time in Sept 2008 - just as the market crashed. And a lot of them dumped everything in March - yup - just as the market shot up. And what about Stuy town in Manhattan...

Here is an excerpt from my initial post in this thread: One state retiree, 49 years old, paid, over the course of his entire career, a total of $124,000 towards his retirement pension and health benefits. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments over his life and nearly $500,000...

This topic really has me pissed off. Recently, I was invited by a friend to join a group on facebook that was comprised of people that went to my elementary school. Apparently the same gym teacher I had was there for quite some time after I graduated. I learned this by visiting the page and...

So why should I fund your pension if I am not getting one? Why should I fund your pension because someone else promised you something they couldn't deliver? Pensions that promise a near full salary and free healthcare until the day you die are inherently flawed. If such investments...

We're not the only ones: With their property tax bill at $11,500 and rising, Kirsten and Keith Cuillard decided that if their elected officials weren't going to take decisive action, they'd have to themselves. So in June, the Middletown couple packed up their three young children and all...

For those that are not familiar with it - in the US, we have Social Security and Medicare - which is available to all after a certain age, and payment fluctuates depending on the amount contributed over ones lifetime. The payment is a fraction of what people earned. This is a retirement...